Immune system 1
What are antibiotics for
Bacteria
Scientists often call the skin a "physical barrier." In your own words, what does that mean?
The skin blocks pathogens from getting into your body
What is the main, overall job of the immune system?
To protect the body from harmful pathogens like bacteria and viruses while removing damaged or abnormal cells to maintain overall health
Why do allergic reactions happen?
What is a pathogen
A disease-causing invader, such as a virus or bacteria
If your immune system successfully fights off a cold virus, what does it create so that you don't get sick from that exact same virus again?
Antibodies
The first line of defence against pathogens
Skin, mucus, sweat, etc
Why shouldn't you share water bottles or food utensils with a friend who has a bad cough?
it can transfer respiratory droplets or saliva containing contagious pathogens directly into your mouth, causing you to catch their illness.
What do we call it when someone's immune system completely overreacts to something totally harmless, like cat fur or peanuts?
Allergic reaction
After an infection is completely cleared, what happens to Memory B cells, and why are they vital for your long-term health?
If you are exposed to the same invader again, these cells immediately activate to produce highly specific, potent antibodies, allowing your immune system to fight off the infection much faster and more efficiently
what is an antibody and antigen, and how do they interact with each other?
An antigen is a foreign invader that triggers an immune response, and an antibody is a Y-shaped protein created by the body to perfectly lock onto and neutralize that specific threat
How does a vaccine grant a person immunity to a disease without actually making them suffer through the full illness?
A vaccine exposes the immune system to a harmless, weakened, or dead piece of a pathogen, allowing B cells and T cells to safely create "memory" cells that can rapidly destroy the real virus before it causes illness.
Disorders of the immune system can include HIV/AIDS. How does HIV specifically affect the immune system, and why does this make the body vulnerable to other illnesses?
HIV weakens the immune system by destroying CD4 helper T cells, which paralyzes the body's ability to coordinate a defense and leaves it vulnerable to otherwise harmless infections.
Imagine a specific virus enters the body. Describe the distinct, cooperative roles that Helper T cells and B cells play in neutralizing this threat.
Helper T cells act as the coordinators by recognizing the specific viral fragments and releasing chemical signals that activate B cells, which mass-produce antibodies to neutralize the invader or pathogen.
What is the specific job of Killer T cells, and how does their function differ from that of B cells?
While B cells release antibodies to attack free-floating invaders outside of cells, Killer T cells find and destroy your own body cells that have already been infected or turned cancerous.